Foundation Mission Statement

The National Organization for Women Foundation was established in 1986 as a 501(c)(3) education and litigation organization allied with the National Organization for Women, the largest feminist activist organization in the United States with its national offices in Washington, D.C. and hundreds of affiliates across the country. The two groups share some staff and office space and have overlapping boards of directors. The Foundation works to enhance the status of women in the United States and around the world through many strategies, including advocacy, litigation and education. The litigation efforts of the Foundation seek to protect reproductive health options, as well as focusing on other areas of concern to women, such as pregnancy discrimination, employment issues, discrimination against women in the military, sexual harassment and exploitation, lesbian and gay rights, civil rights, sex discrimination in insurance, and ending violence against women. In our education and advocacy efforts, the Foundation works to inform the general public, as well as policy-makers, about the need for equal treatment of women and for a constitutional guarantee of equal rights under the law. We do this in many ways, including public speaking, conferences, seminars, training programs and educational materials. NOW Foundation also engages in voter empowerment programs designed to encourage women to register, vote, and stay politically active in their communities.